What’s the most redneck thing you have ever watched in racing? Boat racing? Trailer racing?
This past weekend Saratoga Speedway may have topped you’re list as they presented the first-ever school bus race and logging truck rodeo on a very rainy Saturday night.
The school bus race saw local fan favourites Jeff May and Sheldon Hopp ride their buses around, with many fans riding along with them, as they raced side by side. No winner was awarded as the race was just for fun, entertaining the near sell-out crowd.
The logging truck rodeo featured two competitors. In the first stage the guys competed to see who could pull out an engine in a car first, with the win going to Dan who beat Richard by 13 seconds.
The second stage they threw the cars they just pulled the engine out of as far as they could, with Richard beating Dan by just two feet.
The final stage saw them once again throw their cars as they were trying to break the tie, but their first attempt ended in a tie once again, so one more throw was needed. Dan finally beat Richard, by close to 10 feet, to take home the title.
The Hornet cars, Crash to Pass cars and the Galaxy Motor Mad Max cars were also on the card. A record of eight Galaxy Motor Mad Max cars took to the track, accompanied by 33 Hornet cars and eight Crash to Pass cars.
In heat race action #75 Dylan Leppord took home his first-ever win in the Hornet D heat, with other heat race wins going to #53 Rowland Westra, #16 Ashley White, #99 Glenn White, #90 Damon Dunn, and #40 Cam Edward.
The 25-lap Hornet B main saw lots of lead changes on a very wet track, with the last change going to Westra on lap 12. Second went to #61 Michael White and third to #8 Ryan Guest.
Twenty-five laps were also awarded to a 14-car Hornet A main event. Wet conditions made for very loose racing, with lots of contact making the field spread out early.
Former track champion #01 Kevin Lawrenuk grabbed an early lead but #10 Blair Mangles and #99 Glenn White found their way around him on lap eight and battled side by side for the remaining 16 laps, with the advantage going to White as he passed Mangles on lap 21 to take home the clean sweep in the A class division. Mangles was second Lawrenuk third.
Some of the most exciting racing took place in the 20-lap Galaxy Motors Mad Max main event. Lots of hitting throughout the race constantly changed the running order, with Dunn, #80 Craig Gagne and #21 Toryn Davies changing lead multiple times. A few late hits propelled Davies into the lead and he took home the win with Gagne second and Dunn third.
The final main event of the evening saw a full field of Crash to Pass cars take to the track for 15 laps. Sandirson and Hopp pulled away from the pack early, with Sandirson holding off Hopp to take home his second main event win of the year. Third went to #9 Troy Ordano.
EXTRA LAPS This Saturday the speedway welcomes back the Wilroc Lites … these are the fastest cars that race at Saratoga, averaging lap times between 13 and 15 seconds…last year there were 14 to 18 cars a night, and with over 20 registered this year, there should more of the same this year…accompanying the Lites will be the I.M.C.A Modifieds, Bomber cars and the Roadrunners who have all been rained out twice this year, so you can be sure they’re just itching to get back on the Black Creek oval …